Zephyr's pupils shrank.
Every hair on his body stood on end. This attack could kill him.
Too late to dodge, Zephyr had only enough time to concentrate every ounce of his Armament Haki to shield himself.
BOOOOMMMMM!!!
CRACK CRACK!!
Even the aftershocks shook the island, causing it to sink slightly under the pressure.All eyes snapped toward the explosion.
The threads of the Birdcage, already cracked by Zephyr's earlier blow, snapped one after another!
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Zephyr's bloodied, mangled body was flung high and far through the air.
"Admiral Zephyr!"
"Zephyr!!!"
Panic seized the faces of the Marines — this wasn't some crazy pirate like Golden Lion. This was a Navy Admiral.
How could this be happening?
"Zephyr!!!"
"Zephyr!!!"
Distracted, Sengoku and Garp were pushed back by Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
"Ururururu! / Mamamamama! Nicely done, Doffy, my boy!"
Kaido and Big Mom roared with laughter.
They pressed their assault, locking down Sengoku and Garp tighter.
They wanted to see what would happen next.
...
Zephyr's broken body flew through the sky.
His right arm, shredded by the friction against the Birdcage threads, was left in tatters.
But in a cruel way, that spared him from further torment.
Doflamingo wasn't satisfied.
He wanted Zephyr to go all the way down this road.
He'd make sure Zephyr finished his life's journey right here!
"Don't get impatient. I'm not done yet!"
Gathering his Armament Haki, Doflamingo poured it into his War God Form — the interior, structured with metallic wires like a weapon of the ancient Pluton.
The energy built up and heated rapidly.
Then, the chest split open.
A blinding light shone out as high-temperature, high-energy reactions ignited within.
Doflamingo's low, thunderous laugh rumbled across the battlefield.
"Fufufufufu... your weak, limited body was always destined for defeat!"
Zephyr didn't answer. He was using every ounce of willpower just to move.
"Zephyr!!!"
"Zephyr!!!"
Watching the changes in Doflamingo's War God Form, both Garp and Sengoku's faces twisted with desperation.
Their comrade of so many years — they couldn't bear to see him die right in front of them.
Garp had never found Charlotte Linlin's body so damn troublesome!
But Big Mom tanked his punches and hacked at his shoulder with her sword, Napoleon.
Trading blow for blow, forcing Garp to retreat and defend!
Sengoku, surrounded by black-red lightning, slammed a Haki-charged shockwave into Kaido.
The blow landed squarely.
Kaido, still weak from his near-death resurrection, was blasted away, dragon blood spraying through the air.
But Sengoku barely glanced at his victory — his golden Buddha eyes burned with rage as he lunged toward Doflamingo.
But it was too late.
"INFINITE CANNON!!!"
Blazing laser energy erupted from the War God Form's chest like a beam from hell.
Zephyr, broken and unable to move, could only watch in horror.
But his years as a teacher weren't for nothing.
Aokiji had arrived.
"Ice Age!!!"
A colossal glacier formed instantly, freezing the very air, placing an icy wall between Zephyr and death.
But did anyone really think Vergo would just stand there?
A black dragon head pierced through the sky.
"Heat Breath!"
A column of flame licked at the glacier, melting it bit by bit. Steam hissed and billowed out in every direction.
An ice phoenix shot toward the black dragon.
BOOMMMM!
But the next laser blast punched through everything: steam, ice, fire — all of it pierced through and driven deep into the earth below.
DOOM!
Sengoku's shockwave struck Doflamingo's War God Form, knocking the cannon's aim off-target.
The laser beam swept across the ocean, carving through the sea surface, evaporating water into clouds of steam.
A nearby Marine fleet was caught in the blast — wiped off the map, vanishing without a trace.
Seawater slowly trickled into the glowing, molten pit, hissing as it touched the scorching earth.
Borsalino, drenched in sweat, cradled Zephyr's ruined body. One second slower, and he would've vanished with the earth just like those ships.
Their teacher-student relationship might've been strained, but right now, Zephyr was still a Navy man — their goals aligned.
Faced with life or death, Kizaru had acted without hesitation.
He'd just finished evacuating Sakazuki and rushed back to rescue Zephyr in the nick of time.
"Fufufufufu... such touching loyalty between master and disciple!"
Watching them, so different from the people they'd become twenty years later, Doflamingo laughed.
He was deeply moved by the chaos he had created.
What a beautiful world he had built!
He truly was a man beyond mere mortal understanding!
But there was no time to deliver the finishing blow.
Because now, a golden, enraged Buddha was bearing down on him like an avenging demon king!
"DOFLAMINGO!!!"
The voice rang out like clashing steel.
And behind Sengoku — Kaido was closing in too, eyes blazing with fury.
Being ignored like this? Sengoku treating him as nothing? Unforgivable.
Compared to Doflamingo's towering War God Form, Sengoku's Buddha looked almost small.
Doflamingo admired the absurdity of it all and burst out laughing.
"Fufufufufu! Sengoku-san, losers have to accept their fate!"
At that moment, the War God's arm shifted.
The hand transformed, sharpening into an enormous knight's lance.
Armament Haki coated it in a ghostly purplish-red gleam, boosting its hardness even further.
And that wasn't all — Conqueror's Haki, black and crackling with red lightning, began to gather around the lance.
"Then today, you'll die like the loser you are, Doflamingo!!!"
Sengoku's eyes flared with the crimson light of Conqueror's Haki.
The shattered earth beneath his feet crumbled into dust as he raised his giant Buddha palm, Haki swirling around it, and struck down.
"You think you're worthy?"
Doflamingo roared back, driving his knight's lance upward.
Time to see if his two years of growth — after killing Golden Lion — were enough!
In Kizaru's widened eyes, two beams of color clashed: one dark gold, one black-purple.
BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
It felt like the heavens and earth collided.
Shockwaves rippled outward in wave after wave, tearing through everything nearby.
The very clouds that Kaido and Linlin had summoned were blown apart, leaving a gaping hole in the sky.
Haki lightning crackled wildly in every direction.
But what stunned everyone —
Their weapons didn't even touch.
Sengoku's massive Buddha palm and Doflamingo's colossal knight lance hovered half a meter apart.
A pure clash of Conqueror's Haki — a battle of wills, smashing together mid-air!
At the center, their Haki condensed into a glowing sphere, trembling with power.
This was the ultimate confrontation: Conqueror's Haki unleashed at full force without physical contact!
"Urururururu! Doflamingo, your progress... it's beyond even my expectations!"
Kaido halted his charge.
This was a battle between true titans.
He wouldn't let anyone interrupt — and he had no intention of interfering.
Someday, he would fight this kid himself.
And when that day came, it would be one hell of a brawl!
"Doflamingo... his power is this strong now?"
Every single Marine stood frozen, mouths agape.
Who could've imagined it?
Two years ago, Doflamingo was just a pirate who scavenged Golden Lion's leftovers.
And now?
He was standing toe-to-toe with Admiral Sengoku.
Before killing Golden Lion, the world had always seen Doflamingo as a mere black market broker.
Now, though…
He was even scarier than Whitebeard, Kaido, or Big Mom.
Because Doflamingo was only in his early twenties.
On this stormy sea, he should've been just another upstart rookie.
And yet — here he was.
Terrifying beyond belief!
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg